Surface and relational similarity were examined in two experiments involving isomorphic and nonisomorphic analogical transfer, using direct-mapping and cross-mapping conditions. In the first experiment, third and sixth graders exhibited mapping based on relational similarity more frequently than did kindergartners; in the second, most four- to…

Components of a problem-solving lab include eight activity zones: problem setting, information gathering, problem analysis, modeling, problem evaluation, prototype, observation, and television studio. (SK)

Discusses a framework for identifying organizational processes or models within the context of the organization's decision-making processes. Five organizational models appropriate to academic libraries are presented: rational, political bargaining, garbage can, bureaucratic, and participatory. Guidelines for managers include how to distinguish…

Reports results of a study of 187 nurses about stressful occupational episodes and the coping strategies and perceived controllability for each, controlling for negative affectivity. Effectiveness of coping was measured across three dimensions: perceived coping effectiveness, job affect, and psychological adjustment. Discusses implication of…

Uses change (mostly pennies) in a one-liter plastic soda bottle to get students to practice estimation skills and creative thinking in an effort to determine the amount of money in the bottle. (MVL)

This article describes 2 experiments conducted with a computer-aided problem-solving tool called BRAIN, involving 30 adults of varying backgrounds and 15 organizational executives. The BRAIN program encourages users to discover partially and fully formulated insights, through iterative generation of word lists and meaningful statements. Eighty…

A mechanism for using personal computer spreadsheet software to generate unique laboratory and problem assignments in optics for each student and provide corresponding solutions that can be checked quickly is described. The method minimizes some students' tendency to inspect others' solutions without solving problems themselves. Another…

Presents learning activities such as planning and building a sailboat, manufacturing cellular phone cases, and designing and building emergency shelters. Includes the context, the challenge, resources used, objectives, materials needed, and an evaluation. (JOW)

Observations of 10 adult-child dyads (4 3- to 5-year-old children cooperated with their fathers, and 6 with their mothers) engaged in a construction task showed that children contributed actively to the interaction and the solutions of the problems. Some interactions were characterized by a mode in which affective interchanges predominated. (SLD)

The design and problem-solving process is an ideal methodological framework in which to place the study of technology in less developed countries. It can be used to teach many thinking skills, accommodate individual differences, and encourage a critical approach to product evaluation. (SK)

Presents a review exercise requiring students to sort diagrams and descriptions of price elasticity of demand. Reports that students are given jumbled diagrams and explanations that they must arrange in proper form. Reveals that some items are designed as distractors. (SG)

This study compared responses of 20 Chinese and 20 U.S. students to the 9-dot problem, a problem demonstrating the common assumption of nonexistent boundaries. There were significant effects of culture (significantly more Chinese students solved the problem), age, and interaction between culture and age and between culture and sex. (DB)

Explains the concept of environmental auditing as analogous to financial auditing, as manifested through the six guiding principles of environmental excellence, and as utilized by industrial and commercial interests. Presents a questionnaire-based method to introduce students to the techniques involved in environmental auditing. (seven references)…

A real problem from the everyday world is presented. Students are asked to estimate the distance between two planes using a photograph taken by a passenger on one of the planes. The process used to solve the problem and possible errors encountered are discussed. (KR)

Comparison of 2 totally blind, 2 visually impaired, and 9 normally sighted children (ages 5-8) on tasks of visual perspective taking found that the totally blind children were older than the other children when they mastered the tasks, made the highest percentage of errors before mastery, and made different errors. (Author/DB)